Last week, we discussed early fare collection methods and the problem of ensuring that all fares were received and passed on to the company. In response to this concern, increasingly elaborate fare collection devices were developed, by a large number of manufacturers.

Initially, these boxes included just a slot for depositing a fare, a visible enclosure which allowed both the conductor – later the motorman — and the passenger to see the amount deposited, and a “safe,” a locked box into which, by pushing a lever, the conductor could cause the fare to drop.

However, later designs allowed tabulation of the fare deposited, totaling of fares collected, a means whereby the fact that the fare was honestly collected could be observed and, in time, boxes that could accept paper money.

The first boxes were hand operated but in time they came to use an electric motor and, eventually, electronic tabulation.